The 1870 electoral redistribution was undertaken by a parliamentary select committee based on population data from the 1867 New Zealand census.
The contest was close and Buller had a small majority in the district of two votes, but the voters from Wellington who were eligible to vote in the Manawatu and who made the arduous journey (the route was affected by recent flooding) to the nearest polling booth in Paikakariki gave Johnston the advantage.
[7] In the 1908 general election, Stevens was defeated by the conservative politician Edward Newman in a second ballot.
[10] In the 1935 general election, he was defeated by Labour's Lorrie Hunter, who held the electorate for one term.
[11] Hunter lost the electorate in the 1938 general election to National's John Cobbe, who retired in 1943.